The problem in Corinth

Clement's gloves come off in chapters 45-48. For those who in their zeal would remove church leaders he states that the persecution of the Old Testament saints was always at the hands of the wicked. The schismatics are blamed for tearing apart the body of Christ. According to Clement "Your schism has subverted [the faith of] many, has discouraged many, has given rise to doubt in many, and has caused grief to us all. And still your sedition continueth." He accuses them of not having learnt the same lesson when they committed similar mistakes and were rebuked by the Apostle Paul. Thus, he urges his readers into immediate repentence.

However, one responds to Clement's position, the following advice offered in Chapter 48 seems suitable for all Christians, but especially leaders:

"Let a man be faithful: let him be powerful in the utterance of knowledge; let him be wise in judging of words; let him be pure in all his deeds; yet the more he seems to be superior to others [in these respects], the more humble-minded ought he to be, and to seek the common good of all, and not merely his own advantage."

Reading these chapters made me wonder how effective Clement's argument would have been. He seems to suppose that the leaders were blameless and in the right, yet this is precisely what his opponents would have disputed. I wonder whether they might have also appealed to the OT, seeing themselves as prophets rebuking flawed leaders.

Clement's approach to scripture comes across in these chapters. They are "the true utterances of the Holy Spirit...nothing of an unjust or counterfeit character is written in them". What is also significant is that Paul's epistles already have a similar status. Therefore, Clement claims that "Truly, under the inspiration of the Spirit, he wrote to you"